KC at Costa Mesa - 16Feb2007

This was my first solo Borders gig in, wow, a long time -- apparently 14 months. I used to do about one a month, in Rancho Santa Margarita, but since they shut down doing music at that store, I've been being too chicken to play solo at any of the other stores -- and typically getting three gigs a month with Warren, which is almost enough.

But this month, since we somehow didn't get any gigs at all in the initial schedule, we had to pick up scraps from the "Opens". I had to do a solo, or I'd'a only had one gig the whole month. It was at Costa Mesa, which Warren and I had done just the Saturday before, but that actually worked out well, 'cuz (a) they were pretty nice to us, and (b) it felt familiar and comfortable to be there. Not to mention that a full-sized gig the week before is good practice for a gig this week.

Warren's gotten into posting videos up on YouTube lately, and I was gonna try to experiment with setting up my vidcam to catch some tunes. The idea was to put it over at the side, so it (a) wouldn't be right in the middle of the room and in the way, and (b) could catch me and Warren in a single edge-on frame, without being a huge wide shot. Unfortunately, I couldn't find a place to put the camera where it could see me (and "virtual Warren") without being right in the walkway where it would surely get knocked over. I think it'll be possible at South Coast Plaza, but not at Costa Mesa.

Which is a shame, 'cuz the performance felt pretty good. With the "rehearsal" the week before, I was playing well, and feeling loose. I think I did some pretty good work. It was one of those nights when the sound sounds particularly good (to me), so I can really knock it out. Not sure why, though. Obviously, a big difference is that Warren wasn't there, so the songs sound different, but it was a kind of "clarity" that made the difference. My only theory is that the second speaker, which is usually back behind Warren, was much closer to me so I was getting completely immersed in the sound field. Or maybe it was just my imagination...

Speaking of Warren, we apparently make more of an impression that I'd imagined, 'cuz at least three people (mostly the store employees) asked me "where my partner was". (He was in Yorba Linda with Jim, playing one of the other scarce "Opens".)

Anyway, it was pretty fun. My ex-boss Tim came by and listened for a while, and there were several folks that I now know to be "regulars" there, too. But unlike the Mission Viejo regulars, these guys are quiet and appreciative. I had to quit at 10:08, when the manager pointedly pointed at her wrist, but I was prepared for it this time and my voice was starting to go anyway.

K&W at Costa Mesa -- 10Feb2007

You'd think, after four years of doing this, that we'd'a seen most every "kind" of night that we were likely to. But, this one was unique, again. There were lots of people there when we got there, so I handed out lots of the song lists. Just as we started, a local Folk Scene lady-friend of Warren's came by, since she lives only a few blocks away. She started us off right away with a song request or two, and it appears to have opened the floodgates for the rest of the night. I hardly got a chance to choose any songs myself at all -- requests were coming at us the whole night. Usually most people are shy about asking for songs, but it "became OK", and everybody was yelling out songs.

Which was oddly fun, but got kinda cut short. The managers there have apparently gotten the impression that we're supposed to quit at 10:00. We don't know why. We understand that they want us to be out of there before closing at 11, but why the very wide margin for error? Unfortunately, the managers run the place, so there's no appealing for reason.

Anyway, we usually play until 10:40, leaving 20 minutes to pack up, but we got cut short at 10:15. I usually save any New Songs that I'm thinking of trying out until the last half-hour, when there's fewer people there, but because of the surprise cut-off, I didn't get to any of them. Oh, well.

But, because of the overall store-scheduling issues (which appear to be ongoing), I'm supposed to play there on Friday again, as a solo. That might be a bit awkward, but I think the manager (or, more likely, the assistant manager) likes my stuff -- she's friendly enough when she's kicking us out -- so maybe it'll be OK. And, at least, now I know.